December
Today is November 27th, and this is the first time since summer ended that I woke up to snow. It started last night, so I drove home in it, and I'm happy to report that though my tires aren't new, they're holding up so far, so I should be able to make it through this season without dying. Awesome.It's been busy around here since I got back from the Dominican, so the wrap up of the trip will be short.
The people are beautiful, the driving is by far the most interesting part of the whole island, the flight up was uncomfortable, and far TOO comfortable on the way back (thanks to a certain person's credit card who helped me upgrade to first class), the shopping wasn't good at all (same types of stones, same styles of jewelry no matter what town you're in), and Canadians rules the roost at the resort, which kind of sucked, because I was really looking forward to meeting awesome people with awesome accents, though I did meet some seriously cute Brits who knew about Kelowna thanks to the Discovery Channel's being here to film the only known floating bridge currently in construction. The wedding went well, and wasn't nearly as hot as I thought it would be. Free drinks are a bad thing, but being so close to the equator (or at least, I'm thinking that's why) is good, because no matter how much I drank, I never got a hangover. Power is an interesting thing, so is cable, as it's not on very often, and we were sure by the time we left that they were shutting it down on purpose. The resort was enormous and well maintained, so don't listen to ANY review you read on the internet about Breezes Puerto Plata. Sure, it's a bit run down, because it's not like it was built yesterday, but they were doing major improvements and construction while we were there, so in about a year, it will be a FANTASTIC place to go. It was still very nice, and I'm glad we all went. Learning the cold climate again once I got back was no fun, but then I thought I'd choke and die (and so did the 50 people walking with us who all hit that hot and wet wall at the same time) when we hit the airport. 3 days later I had a cold, but I was climatized again. Dammit I'm having issues spelling that word. Anyway it was great, and some time today I should get the link for everyone else's pictures. I don't know why, but I wasn't very inspired while I was there, so I didn't take a whole lot. About 3 gigs worth, which sounds like a lot, but it really wasn't.
Anyway, Christmas time it so much fun. My sister has the most amazing Christmas music collection, so I'm currently compiling all the songs so she can cut down on so many CDs, and give them all to me. We decorated my place on the weekend, which is early for me, especially since for the last 5 years I have made my own tradition where I wait until my birthday on Dec 2nd before decorating, but I just couldn't help myself this year. I'm living completely alone, so it was MY choice where I put everything, and I didn't have to ask roommates what they liked. Actually last year everything I tried to bring out was shut down, so I only decorated my very small room. This year when I brought everything out, I was shocked at how much I really had. I didn't know I had collected that much stuff, WOW.
Christmas music has been playing in the car since that day too, which initially was annoying me a touch, since there was no snow in the ground, and the whole Christmas spirit thing felt forced. Now there's no area untouched, so I'm starting to get excited about this holiday. The invitations to myself and my similarly single sister are rolling in already. We have so many friends who have families who love us, so there's never a year where we don't have plans to go somewhere.
On Dec 8th we've even got plans to do a Hanukkah type thing where we're playing the game dradle. I can't wait to see what this game entails, my friend Nola said it involves gambling, which will be fun for me.
Finally, my 30th birthday is this Sunday. God help me, but I'm scared to see this one pass. I'm nowhere near where I wanted to be, and yet where I am is surprising. I never thought I'd ever get a job at Shaw, and I love it (even though it's filled with politics and corporate bullshit, but what monopolizing company isn't really?), and I never thought I'd be crazy cat lady with my 2 darlings, but hey, I'm not throwing old food at kids as they pass by while tapping the ground with my cane as I swish back and forth in my hundred year old rocking chair, so I suppose it's not time to consider myself old yet.
What are your plans for the holidays?
